The chemotherapy was intended to cure little Ryan Ross of childhood cancer.

But after just two doses of the drugs cocktail the four-year-old was dead.

And when his grieving parents Gary and Julie read the details of the death certificate last week, they were stunned.

The chemo they had trusted to keep their boy alive had killed him.

Today, less than two months after burying their son, the Ross family are drowning in a quagmire of emotions and struggling to know what to do next.

Gary, 41, said: “Everything seems pointless now without Ryan. People have told us to sue the hospital but we’ve never wanted money, all we ever wanted was for our son to get better.

Ryan's health deteriorated quickly

“Suing the hospital will not bring Ryan back and no amount of money will take away the pain of losing him. We can hardly believe it to be honest. It’s difficult to explain how we feel. Sad, sick, confused, guilty, angry - we feel everything.

“But above all we’re shocked. How could a treatment designed to save Ryan’s life kill him? How could that happen and why weren’t we told it could happen?”

Ryan from East Belfast had presented with flu symptoms shortly after last Christmas.

His energy levels dipped and soared and he felt generally unwell for a while but it was assumed he was dealing with a winter virus.

But by March he was looking ill with dark circles under his eyes, feeling very lethargic, bruising easily, suffering fevers and unable to keep up his usual routine.

Gary Ross is lost without his wee son Ryan. Picture by Justin Kernoghan

Gary said: “First we were very shocked and frightened to discover that Ryan had cancer , but then we got stuck in and started fighting back really fast. He’s always been a wee live wire and put his heart and soul into everything he did from school to football and we knew he’d give us everything he had to get better for us. So we started feeling less scared and more positive that we had the help we needed.

“Ryan was diagnosed on a Thursday and we signed off on the treatment straight away after meeting the medical team. His chemotherapy started the following Monday.

“We believed we were doing the right thing allowing Ryan to have chemotherapy but we’d no idea what was ahead of him - or us.

“We thought we’d no choice, we believed it was a life and death situation. We were offered no alternatives and didn’t know if there were any and we didn’t. We just decided to fight and thought Ryan would survive and live a long and happy life.

“The medical team told us he had at least a 90% to 95% chance of success and we clung onto that. The odds were in our favour. We went for it, we believed he’d be OK and we put that 5% chance at the back of our minds.”

Gary has placed a memorial bench in the front garden of their family home in East Belfast. Picture by Justin Kernoghan

Ryan managed the first dose of the chemotherapy well. He was sick after the second one but rallied after a day or two.

But on March 12 he started feeling very unwell, his tummy had become very swollen and he was suddenly and violently sick.

Within hours Ryan was dead with his mum and dad by his side unable to take in what they had just witnessed.

The cause of death on Ryan’s death certificate states chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia led to neutropenic colitis which led to severe sepsis.

The details on Ryan's death certificate were shocking

Gary said: “Now our Ryan is gone. His wee bedroom is empty, his resting place is a grave and we are lost without him.

“When we met with the hospital team afterwards they were very kind and did their best to comfort us.

Ryan's grave

“But in that meeting we were devastated by what they told us.

“They confirmed that Ryan hadn’t died of cancer, he had died of blood poisoning brought on by a rotting bowel which had been caused by the severity of the chemotherapy that was meant to save his life. They said they were sorry and said there were things that had happened in Ryan’s case that would never be allowed to happen again. We went into the meeting in a daze and came out even worse.

“We never thought at the time Ryan was diagnosed to ask how many of the children in that 5% to 10% who don’t make it died because of the treatment. We just assumed it would be the cancer than killed them, not the treatment.

“Now we are left in this mess. Julie and myself and our older sons, Aaron and Dylan feel like we are walking about in a nightmare. We feel cheated. We feel we let Ryan down. Even his little sister Olivia is pining for him and she’s just a baby.

Olivia loved her big brother Ryan

“On March 13 I posted to our friends on Facebook that Ryan had been unwell during his treatment and he'd been moved into the intensive care unit to help while his blood pressure stabilised. We had hoped and hoped but in the end we lost the fight and we’d hardly even started.

“I know there’ll be parents out there who’ll be looking at their children today and hoping they’re OK. There are parents hearing news of childhood cancer and being told about treatments and potential outcomes.

“I’d urge them to ask as many questions as possible. Ask about alternatives, ask about how severe the chemotherapy can be, ask if it can kill.

“We know we really didn’t fully understand what we were dealing with and we just weren't prepared for the worst.

Words of comfort for Ryan's family

“Now we’re living out the worst case scenario and we’ll never get out of this it. Our days with Ryan in this world are over and all we have memories and a grave - and it’s just not enough.”

A spokesman for the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust said: "We wish to share our sincere sympathies with the family at this difficult time. Belfast Trust continue to be in touch with and support the Ross family."